The topic for this master thesis is amicable agreements during land acquisition done by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA) region east. This region consists of the counties Akershus, Hedmark, Oppland, Oslo and Østfold. The thesis is inspired by a bachelor thesis from Bergen University College written by Leinebø, Strømdal and Torsnes (2015). Theirs thesis was demarcated to the counties Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane in Western Norway.

The thesis research question is why do the landowners enter an amicable agreement during land acquisition?

This master thesis is a quantitative research. The data we use to answer the research question is collected with a survey which consist of 48 questions. The survey got a response rate of 43,6 %, of a sample size of 365 landowners. All the landowners in the survey sample size had entered into an amicable agreement with the NPRA.

The results from the survey indicates that there were different reasons as to why landowners chose to enter into an amicable agreement. The different reasons varied depending on the survey participant’s attributes. The most decisive factor was in average the road project importance for the local community.

Another factor of importance was the compensation size. This factor was especially decisive for those who relinquished large parts of the property. Some of the landowners in the survey got noise barriers, new driveway and/or other measures as a part of the compensation. The results indicate that these measures had a positive effect on the agreement process. Through the analysis in this thesis we have found a correlation between information about the land acquisition and satisfied landowners. The landowners who got better information about the land acquisition were more satisfied with both the compensation and the negotiation process.

If the NPRA and landowners don’t enter an agreement regarding the land acquisition, the NPRA have the authority to expropriate the land. In the survey, we had a question about how decisive the threat of expropriation was and it had no purpose to object. These factors were especially decisive for the landowners who were displeased with the compensation.

Publisher

Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås

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